LONG Overdue: Raro Part II

Kia Ora, friends. I have gotten several complaints about my lack of posting--tough crowd! But it's true that it's been forever, and I'm sure you are dying to hear about the rest of my time in Rarotonga. So I won't keep you in suspense any longer. (Also this is really long but I don't want to do three parts....so enjoy.)

The day after the opening festivities was Sunday, so we headed to church. It was super hot, so the required shoulder-covering outfits we were wearing were a bit stifling, but we survived. The service was cool, mainly because the singing was awesome. Everything was in Maori except for the last song, and the congregation immediately harmonized. It was beautiful. But also a little disappointing, because I really wanted to sing along, and it was pretty much impossible to do so. However, the opening hymn was called "Tapu, Tapu, Tapu," which was VERY familiar. Any guesses?? I'll put the answer at the bottom so you have some time to think about it! (Come on, Schulzes!) By far my favorite part of the service was when the pastor randomly put on aviators...and proceeded to preach his entire sermon in them. I nearly died. And I am still in mourning that I couldn't snap a picture of it.

There it is, the Cook Islands Christian Church! There are actually a zillion churches on Rarotonga. I even spotted a few Latter-Day Saints and even a Ba'hai worship space, but the predominant religion by far is Christianity.

The group all gussied up and ready for the after church refreshments! Which were soooooooooo good. So good.

The gang at the beach right outside the church. Love these crazy cats!

After church, we headed to The Dive Centre to get geared up for snorkeling! I was really looking forward to this, because my last experience snorkeling was a bit tainted, so I was ready to redeem it from the bad memory zone. After an excruciatingly long talk about marine life and conservation (very important and interesting, but sooo long), we finally got fitted for fins and masks and headed out! The lagoon that we explored was really shallow, so it was cool to see everything up close. This also gave us the ability to dive down and investigate things on the ocean floor/peek under coral, etc. I personally saw tons of different fish, but the names I remember are box fish, puffer fish, sea cucumbers....and that's it. Yeah, it's been three weeks. BUT I stole some pictures from people's underwater cameras, so there's that. We also saw Gill from Finding Nemo, which of course made me a happy camper.

Rainbow things! 

A school of striped things!

Oh heyyy. The fish are really friendly and sort of follow you around, because they're used to tourists feeding them. This is actually really bad for the reef, because then the fish don't eat the bacteria on the coral and the coral dies. BAD TOURISTS.

This baby is the most aggressive fish in Raro. If you piss it off, a little horn thing pokes out of the top of it and it charges at you. Common theme of marine life: If it's beautiful or hideous, it's poisonous. 

Needle fish things! I should've written these names down...

This is a fishbowl. A huge group of fish like this congregate and then freeze. They literally aren't moving at all. It's so surreal!

Proof that I was in fact snorkeling. You can tell by the arm full of bracelets. Stunning photo, no?

After about two hours of snorkeling, we started to get cold, so we headed up to the beach to dry off. It was so fun to have the whole group together just hanging out. The guys broke out the frisbee and a bunch of us joined in as the sun went down. Tough life. We then finished the day with dinner at Coco Putt, which is a minigolf place. I had low expectations, imagining crappy concession food that would likely be served at an American minigolf course. But I was totally wrong. Yet again, we were served fresh, traditional food, and it was delicious and amazing. We also had a game of mini golf...and I came in fifth. Out of six. Meh.

Here is the now infamous picture Sam took of me outside of the Coco Putt. It still cracks me up that the stunning scenery is part of a crummy minigolf course.

Coco Putt!

The next day we had our visit to the Takitumu Primary School. We arrived in the morning, and the kids were itching with excitement. It was a really incredible experience, but a little part of me always struggles with visits like these, because I feel like a tourist in their lives. But a really cool moment happened before we even went in. We were lining up outside and the kids were singing--and it took me a moment to notice what they were singing: "This is the Day," which is a song I sang every morning in first grade. It was crazy to think how far that song had reached. It was a cool moment. Anyway, the kids sang for us, which was really cute, and then the sixth graders taught us some Maori (like "my name is ____", basic things). We also sang the Cook Islands National Anthem, which Eunice had secretly made us practice beforehand so that we wouldn't look like idiots.

The school from the outside--try getting things done with that view!

Adorable preschoolers performing for us. The song was about transportation.

Bebeeeees.

After that, we had free time with the kids.

For most people, that ended up looking a little something like this.

But I noticed this cutie sitting off to the side all by herself, so I went and talked to her. Her name is Jette, and her family moved from Wellington about four years ago. My heart just immediately went out to her, because she got picked on for being white and missed New Zealand a lot. It was hard for me to say goodbye to her.

                                                       

                  This is Jette's dog, Taringa, who happened to follow her to school that day. She is the cutest puppy ever. Incidentally, "taringa" means "ears" in Maori. I wonder how she got that name...

After the school visit we headed to Muri beach, which is where the painfully beautiful beach pictures I promised come in. This may be the most stunning beach I've ever seen. The sand was white, the water a perfectly clear turquoise...just unreal. We had about four hours to just relax and explore the lagoon, and it was lovely. 

Paradise.

Panoramic Paradise. Oh hay.

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.

The boys being awesome and building a sandcastle. The water side was fortified with rocks so that the waves wouldn't destroy it. Can you tell two of them are engineers?

Lounging. I am on the far left if that matters. Also notice the dogs...EVERYWHERE.

The next day was probably the hottest we experienced on the trip, around 85 degrees. Luckily, that was the day we were schedule to do the cross island hike! Convenient. Anyway, we met up with our guide, a super old school guy named Rua Henry, around 10:30 am, and set off. The hike was basically a climb (joy), so lots of people were struggling with the heat. Rua Henry somehow overheard that I was carrying the group's first aid kit in my backpack, and he wouldn't hear of it, so he basically ripped my backpack off and insisted on carrying it the whole way. So that was interesting. He also kept making the guys stop and allow the girls to pass first, which was unnecessary. I told you he was old school.

 

This gives you a taste of what we did for 2.5 hours! It was pretty darn cool, though.

This is one of eight river crossings that we made. Rua Henry kept running ahead so he could give his hand to all the girls.

View from The Needle!

Me retrieving my backback from Rua Henry. Thanks, bro! (It took me a few days to get the sweaty man smell out. Blegh)

The Needle! Second highest point on the island.

Robbie (fellow Minnesotan!), Deanna, and I chillin' at the top!

After the cross island hike we were all pretty wiped, so we went back to the beach for a bit of down time. Eunice had also planned for Emily and her cousin to teach us about traditional paddling, and when we arrived there were two canoe things waiting for us. Unfortunately we didn't get any context or explanation of technique/history, but we did get to try it out, so that was fun!

The canoes!

Yep. I had fun.

The next day, we started with two lectures on biodiversity and climate change. Both interesting, but I was just itching to get outside. After the "class" portion of the morning, we headed over to Matutu Brewery for a tasting and tour, which was fascinating. These two guys moved from New Zealand and just decided to start up a local company. We learned all about the process, got to sample three different brews, and tour their tiny facility. It was incredible and made me want to try brewing beer at home (which probably won't happen, but at least I have a much deeper appreciation for the process now).

Their super high tech ordering system. This is literally how they do it! Amazing.

The main area--the bottles are from all over the world. Fun fact: when they were doing research on what kind of beer they wanted to brew, they traveled to the Summit Brewery in Minnesota! So cool.

The bottling station, where each one is filled BY HAND. Nuts.

Their facility. Another fun fact: the name, Matutu, means "strength" in Maori. They wanted something that was significant but also easy for tourists to pronounce.

After the tour we had down time. 

Next and final day! We had a totally free day, so I opted to spend it at the beach (shock). Sam and I had a glorious few hours reading and basking in the sun before getting ready for the last big event, the progressive dinner. This involved visiting three different family homes and eating traditional food. It was pretty cool, although the first location is where I had my encounter with the demonic fire ants. 

The first location! Pretty interesting family, because the husband was Maori and the wife was Irish.

This is the family from the second home. The host explained that there were ten siblings and that they had all come to Raro the week before because their mother (in the wheelchair) had been near death. They all sang for us and the grandmother was clapping and singing and I bawled. So that was fun.

Da ladiez (well, some of us). Sasha and I are both wearing 100 Way Skirts, so you can get an idea of how they work! And what mine looks like, I suppose.

WOO. Mostly done! That night a bunch of us went to one of the three clubs on the island and danced the night away. It was a great time. Ironically, the club was called "Rehab." Lolz.

Fun Facts/Updates:

Here are some Rarotonga specific ones first:

-The maximum speed limit on the island is 55kph.

-There is only one stop sign on the entire island, and it's not on the main road around.

-There are two buses on the island: one runs clockwise and one runs counterclockwise.

-The puffer fish only "puffs" seven times in its whole life. Scientists speculate this is because of the stress it causes its body; it's basically like having a stroke.

-70% of Cook Islanders live abroad, and 60% of those live in New Zealand.

-Answer to the trivia question: The hymn was "Holy, Holy, Holy."

-Since Rarotonga, I have been super boring. Mostly because of the nonexistence of my bank account, but also because three weeks in a row of traveling is a lot. So it's been nice to have some down time, although I'm trying to do something this weekend. Time is fleeting, after all.

-Also since Rarotonga, I was recommended for an awesome internship with Teach For America, so a ton of my time was taken up completing the application for that. I'm really excited and praying that I will move forward in the process. Here's hoping!

-ONLY 11 DAYS UNTIL I AM IN AUSTRALIA!! And only 16 until Mark and Nancy arrive. What is my life?! I am so lucky.

-Recently, and today especially, I have been overwhelmed with a lot of emotions. Laurel and Swensie are both home already. And although I miss home and Gustavus and choir and Greeters and my roomies more than I can say, I'm also reminded of how incredibly lucky I am to be here and to have the experiences I'm having. It will be over before I know it, so I'm trying to soak it all up.

Anywho. I probably won't update again until Aus, unless I manage to throw a trip together for the weekend. But I tried to include lots of pictures to make up for the lull. 

Cheers!